Audit quality

PwC said it will continue to co-operate fully with the FRC in its enquiries. "The regulator has a duty to investigate where they believe there is a public interest, in order to give confidence to the financial markets," it said.

"Audit quality is of paramount importance to the firm. The FRC’s annual reviews of our audit work, policies and procedures show a continued trend of improvement in our work and we use the FRC’s insights, together with our own reviews, to continuously improve how we deliver high quality audits."

Last month, the FRC dropped its investigation into PwC's work in auditing Tesco, after the supermarket group had admitted to a £263m black hole in its accounts in 2014. The shortfall later grew to £326m because it had incorrectly booked payments from its suppliers early. ®